Well, we come to the preaching of God's Word, and let's open up to the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel of Luke is found on page 1016 of the Pew Bible. Page 1016. We are beginning the Gospel of Luke as a new study together as a church. I'm going to read Luke chapter 1, verses 1 to 25. Luke chapter 1, verses 1 through 25, this is the Word of God. In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word had delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now, while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. And Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." And the people waiting for Zechariah, they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them. And they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months, she kept herself hidden, saying, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among people. The glass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our Lord endures forever. Heavenly Fathers, we launch into a new book of study, as a church. I pray that you would be at work within us, individually, in our households, corporately together as a church, Lord. We need this book. We need the way that it leads us to and teaches us about and shows us why Jesus Christ is worthy of all faith. And we pray, Lord, that you would accomplish your purposes through this book as we study it together. We pray these things in Christ's name, amen. Well, God gave us four gospels, that is four accounts of the true story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He wasn't just being redundant. The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John harmonize. They complement one another beautifully. So today, as I've already said and prayed, we begin a study of one of the four, the Gospel of Luke. And so we should immediately be struck that this is a necessary book of the Bible for us to gain a full understanding of Jesus. It's also a quite full book of the Bible. This is actually the longest book in the New Testament. But that's not the only reason it contributes so much. That's not like a dig on shorter Mark that is doing a different thing and is much more action-packed and condensed. But Luke has his own burden, his own perspective that complements those under, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is, however, notable that if we did not have Luke, there's a lot we would be missing about Jesus in our Bibles. If we didn't have the Gospel of Luke, we would not have the parable of the Good Samaritan. We would not have the parable of the prodigal son. nor of the rich man and Lazarus. We would have not heard of Zacchaeus. We wouldn't have Jesus' words from the cross, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do, nor to the thief on the other cross, today you will be with me in paradise. All of those actually are recorded for us only in the Gospel of Luke, as well as that direct event where Jesus entered a synagogue on Sabbath, unrolled the Isaiah scroll and proclaimed the year of the Lord's favor from chapter 61. And that really is a banner over this book. Messiah has come. The year of the Lord's favor is proclaimed. That banner extends out to us today who follow him by faith and out into eternity where he will be glorified forever and ever. It is the year of the Lord's favor. Well, as we begin, let's draw some general observations from our first four verses. And the first thing I want to point out is how different this beginning is from those other Gospels I already mentioned. If you go to Matthew 1.1, you'll see that Matthew begins with the genealogy. Luke gets there eventually, but Matthew just starts there and then launches right into the story of Christ's birth. Mark, as I said, is all action. He just starts his gospel, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then he covers John the Baptist and gets Jesus baptized all in the first 10 verses. John begins with what's essentially theological poetry. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Only Luke starts with this kind of little self-referential prologue in verses 1 through 4 about why he's writing and to whom. We already read the name Theophilus in verse 3. Now, the book of Acts has something very similar. The book of Acts starts with a similar self-referential little prologue, and it's also addressed to Theophilus. It even references back to a first book. It starts, in the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. So surely Luke, Acts form a two-volume work written by the same man. But why do we so confidently say that man was Luke? He never actually says that in either Luke nor in Acts. And what do we know about this man? Well, notice that in the introduction, the first four verses that we read, he places himself not as an eyewitness of the things he writes about, but rather as a diligent student. He says in verse 1, many have written narratives like the one he's now writing, including verse 2, those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. Then in verse 3, he says it seems good to him also to write an account, clearly placing himself outside that category of personal eyewitness. So the author of these two books, which we call Luke and Acts, was not an apostle who was there for all of it, like Matthew or John. He's more like a Mark, a close associate of the apostles. In fact, Mark and Luke knew each other. They traveled together as they accompanied an apostle, the apostle Paul. We heard Luke mentioned in our study through 2 Timothy. We got to 2 Timothy 4.11. As Paul was writing there, suffering for the gospel in prison, even on Roman death row, what did he write? Luke alone is with me. In Colossians 4.14, Paul calls him famously the beloved physician. And people have wondered if, as a doctor, did he tend to Paul's thorn in the flesh? Was he there with him as his health probably declined in that Roman prison? Well, when you read carefully which parts of the book of Acts switch the pronouns to we, all of a sudden the writer is putting himself in the story without using his own name. We went here, we did this, we did that. You compare that with some of that data in the epistles. Luke emerges as the overwhelmingly likely author on the internal evidence of scripture, and that's before you bring in the external evidence, which is the essentially universal testimony of the early church fathers. The earliest manuscripts we have of this actually include the title Luke, and it is the rare place where virtually all scholars, ancient and modern, actually agree on something. Luke wrote this book. So I don't really think we need to spend much more time on it than that. But what about his recipient, Theophilus? He's only mentioned in the introductions to Luke and Acts as far as internal witness in Scripture. What can we say about him? likely a new Christian. Luke was probably sort of just bringing him up to speed on all the things that had happened and were going on. He may have been a sort of patron or sponsor, the one who covered the expensive costs of writing and then even copying and distributing Luke's two-volume work. Some have suggested he may have been a high-ranking official. What does he call him? Most excellent Theophilus. I don't just go around referring to people that way. So maybe that's saying he was in a high position. Some have wondered, was he the Roman official overseeing Paul's trial maybe? And Luke is giving his testimony of this Christianity that was so spreading and turning the world upside down. As you can see, I got really interested in Theophilus this week. Here's a theory that I actually found rather interesting. Not that those other ones aren't, but this one was particularly interesting. He may have been the son of Annas, the former high priest mentioned along with Caiaphas. History actually tells us that Annas had five sons, who also all served as high priests, including a son named Theophilus. There was a Theophilus, the son of Annas, who was high priest shortly after Jesus's resurrection. Did he convert to Christ? Is that why Luke is so exacting in placing Christ in the context of Old Testament history, both in his gospel and in the book of Acts? Interesting, Annas is only mentioned in Luke, not the other gospels. Or, just one more, one last theory of the case, perhaps Theophilus is not a name at all, but a title. name, if you break it down, really just means lover of God. And so is Luke writing maybe to a more general, broad audience that all who love God, all Theophiluses, or Theophloi, as it were, would read and benefit from this Well, we can't say with certainty, but that last point does get to an important truth, which is that this is a book written to give certainty about Jesus Christ. And that's not just for Theophilus, that's for us all. That's what he said in verse 4, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Just as New Testament letters were often written to individuals or to churches, but are truly the word of God for us all, so too, this gospel of Luke. In fact, as we stand here some 2,000 almost years later from its writing, there's a way where this gospel is in particular focused out on us, even from its first central writing, because this is a gospel that has especially a global focus of the kingdom and the gospel. The angel will say to the shepherds in Luke 2.10, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Christ will say in Luke 13.29, people will come from east and west and north and south and recline at table in the kingdom of God. There will be a great global ingathering in Christ after his resurrection in chapter 24. Jesus sends his followers to go and be a part of that, of gathering in the nations. In his last recorded words of the book, he will say, repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. While any other historical notes can simply be brought in as they are relevant to the text as we go forward, let's use the remainder of our time now to consider how Luke starts his actual account, like how he really gets into the action and the story in verses 5 to 25. So in looking at verses 5 to 25, I want to consider this under three headings. First, a redemptive historical transition. Second, a familiar familial struggle. And third, an answer anticipating more. A redemptive historical transition, a familiar familial struggle, an answer anticipating more. Realizing as I say it out loud, that second one was easier to write than to say. So I will see if I don't get tongue-tied on a familiar familial struggle. Well, we begin with a redemptive historical transition. Luke locates us in history, we're not just reading myth or imagination, by starting the way that he does in verse 5, referencing King Herod. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, is how our story starts. By the way, this is not the Herod that will show up later in the passion narratives. There's a Herodian dynasty appointed by Rome to rule over Judea that spans New Testament history. So don't get your Herods confused. This is Herod the Great, as he's so called, who reigned for almost 40 years. He's called Great mainly because of his building projects. He rebuilt and expanded the temple on a grand scale. But on the other end of the spectrum from Great, Matthew tells us this is the man who committed the slaughter of the innocents when he was trying to kill the newborn Jesus he thought would be a king to rival his rule. But Luke's only concern to mention Herod, great or not so great as he may be, to locate in space and time what he's really interested in, a couple that would have probably been overlooked by the world, but was critical to God's plan. Isn't that what God often does? Here's the great by the world standards. Here's what looks grand to world eyes. Here's what would show up in your secular history book. Now here's what I'm really doing. Here's the kingdom coming like a mustard seed, easily overlooked, but ready to explode into glory. Verse five, in the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Now, we're talking in this first section about a redemptive historical transition. And I want to point out to us something about these characters we meet in the first chapters of Luke. Canonically, as far as the division of the books of the Bible, we are in the New Testament. But from the standpoint of redemptive history, which is to say the entire Bible's unfolding of one grand storyline in all of Scripture, from that perspective, which Testament are we in a sense actually still in? Well, there's a sense from that perspective where we're really still in the Old Testament. And these are Old Testament people. They're living before the birth of the Messiah. Right before, but before still. And they are still deeply embedded in that older context. Consider all the various Old Testament motifs we see in this first section. Zechariah is a priest. The priesthood is still active. He's married to a daughter of Aaron, it says. This key figure from the history of Israel, which will be mentioned later, as will Elijah. Nazirite vows from the book of Numbers are invoked about John the Baptist, that bit about not touching wine or strong drink. That's not a universal prohibition for all God's people. That's a Nazirite vow for a specific set-aside role. We'll get into that in weeks to come. Zechariah and Elizabeth, like Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, these are all really Old Testament people at this point. And in that light, consider verse six, which you may have wondered about in our reading. It says of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. So just to be clear, that's not a statement that these two were literally sinless. Zechariah is not gonna come out, even just of our reading today, without some bruises in the text, okay? He's not just gonna behave impeccably as we get into this. He's gonna come out judged with over nine months of muteness, actually. Rather, we should read verse 6 in that covenantal, even old covenantal, context of the Old Testament. This is the direct language of how Old Testament Israel was called to live in covenant with their Lord, to walk blamelessly in his commandments and statutes. It wasn't that they never sinned. In fact, some of the commandments they were to walk in was what to do when you sin, how there were sacrifices of atonement provided for expiation. No, it wasn't that they were literally sinless, but this is classic covenantal language of what Israel needed to do to be the true and faithful Israel of God. We're currently in our scripture reading in our worship service, which is really just the reading of scripture as an act of worship in and of itself, proclaiming the word of God in our hearing. We're in the book of Deuteronomy. Eventually, we'll get to Deuteronomy 30. That book is key for understanding the covenantal context of the entire scriptures. Deuteronomy 30, 19 to 20, this restatement of the Mosaic covenant just before the people entered the promised land. We read this. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life that you and your offspring may live. loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and holding fast to him. For he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give it to them." You probably noticed the emphasis I was making on that your offspring may do these things, that they may live in fellowship faithfully before the Lord of their fathers. Just put a pin in that offspring or children and fathers dynamic, and remember it for a moment. But next, consider with me, we could trace this line all the way through the Old Testament, but for time, we'll just jump straight to the last chapter of the Old Testament, to Malachi 4, and consider how the canon comes to a close in the Old Testament. Malachi is set in the aftermath of the devastation of exile because they did not live this way. And even the renewed corruption of the people brought back into their land still not walking as they ought. The children still not walking faithfully before the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet Malachi, in that last book of the Old Testament, even the last chapter, the notes that it leaves hanging out as we go into the intertestamental period until Christ is sent, Malachi still predicts joy to come for those who fear the Lord. The book of Malachi in chapter 4 says, after predicting judgment on the disobedient, yes, that is a note left hanging out over that intertestamental period, but it also says, for you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. I'm not an expert in calves, but I think that's describing overwhelming joy, just leaping about in the field when they're loosed from the stall and able to run. It's a picture of just exuberant joy. And he says that's what it's going to be like when the sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings. Malachi then says, this is so critical, this is all going somewhere. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Remember the statutes and the rules. Well, we see here in Luke 1 6, when we read this language of Zechariah and Elizabeth, well, there were at least two faithful Israelites doing it. There were those who feared his name. They were looking for that joy that had been promised. And there were others. I already mentioned them. There was Simeon. There was Anna. There was Joseph. There was Mary. There were more. They were part of just a small remnant. Israel as a whole, Israel nationally, corporately considered even, had not chosen life. Again and again and again, they chose death. They earned curse. And so we have these Malachi four final words of the Old Testament, the last words of the Old Testament, right? Judgment is hanging out there. The promise of joy is hanging out there. What's going to happen? Last words of the Old Testament. Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." So I asked you to put a pin in that offspring or children in father's language. The point is that the hearts of the fathers to their children, hearts of the children to their fathers, isn't just about what we might call domestic relations, like it means Nick and his kids are going to finally get along in this era of redemptive history. No, and we do get along wonderfully. I love my kids. That was a weird illustration. It's covenantal. It's about the Deuteronomy call, therefore choose life that you and your offspring may live, and to the offspring that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers. This is about continuing in faithful covenant with Yahweh, the God of their fathers. That they would continue to keep the statutes and the rules. And so in Luke 1, looking down at verses 16 to 17, straight from the angelic mouth, what do we read of Zechariah and Elizabeth's son? And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before him. He will go before the one to come in the spirit and power of Elijah. He will go before him to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. So the son sent would be John the Baptist. to prepare a way, to prepare even a people for the Lord, who we will meet is Jesus Christ in this redemptive historical transition. Now, I'm pressing into this because what we're going to see in the Gospel of Luke is that the transition from Old Testament to New is not one of radical disconnect, but rather organic unity. There are glorious blessings unfolded, but not because it's a radical disconnect with what's come before, but rather this organic growing unity. Here's what happens. Many are unfaithful in Israel. Israel covenantally has blown it. This is the generation that will largely reject the Messiah, call for his death even. However, as I've already said, there is a faithful remnant of Israel in the covenant people. Your Zechariah's, Elizabeth's, Joseph's, Mary's, Simeon's, Anna's. They are true Israel. They remain. They fear the Lord. A remnant is enduring. John, the forerunner of Messiah, the morning star of the new covenant as it were, prepares the way for Christ, how? By gathering together that faithful Israel, forming a sort of community within a community. What does Paul write later in Romans 9? They are not all Israel who are called Israel. So he's gathering true spiritual Israel that still fears the Lord together. He's marking them out as a community by what? Baptism. His ministry, though, also prunes away unbelieving Israel. We'll see that, especially when we come to chapter three. He makes the division. He prunes away all Israel that is not Israel. You're left with actually believing Israel. Christ will come, this way being prepared, and continue that ministry. He will come even to inaugurate this new covenant era, not just by announcing it, but by accomplishing the work that is at its heart. That hanging question of Malachi. The tension there all the way from the earliest parts of the Old Testament. Blessing or curse? Life or death? Will the land be struck? Christ is the only resolution. Christ is the only answer. Christ is the only hope of Israel and of the entire Gentile world. He answers those questions like this. He comes and keeps that covenant perfectly. He chooses life all the time. He earns blessing all the time. That is the blessing he has to give to us by his grace, covenantal faithfulness. And that curse that we deserve for our breach, for all our sins, He suffers for that on the cross. The death we chose, He chooses freely to bear for us. Christ is struck in our place in order to satisfy the curse against us. And so there is a new covenant made in what? In His blood. not in the blood of sheep or goats, not in the blood of our own efforts, but in the blood of Christ and the blood of Christ alone. As he suffers the broken covenants penalties and fulfills its requirements, all for us praise his name. This is the redemptive historical transition of the gospel of Luke. This is the dawn of the new covenant. Not a completely new thing, but the beautiful fulfillment of promises made from so long ago. Unbelieving Israel, just to say it again, is pruned away. Faithful Israel endures. The Gentiles are grafted in. Christ founds his new covenant community. It is the church, we are a part of it today. This is not radical disconnect. This is not replacement. This is organic unity, even as it is a beautiful new light shed as the sun of righteousness rises with healing in its wings. Well, this has been the redemptive historical transition. I turn now to point to a familiar familial struggle. Familial. means concerning the family. I could have said a familiar family struggle. I don't know why I said familial, but here we are. It just means about the family. And although I've already said that whole bit about the hearts of the children and the fathers, it's about a lot more than domestic relations. The setting of this new covenant dawn, this transition in redemptive history in our text is familial, which is to say the family, which is a normal domestic household and one going through a struggle that is quite familiar. Their struggle, we learn right in verse seven, is, but they had no child. Because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. I call this struggle familiar, and I do that for two reasons. First, it's familiar because this is another motif of the Old Testament. right here as we start the book of Luke. As we read this narrative, we should get a sense of biblical deja vu. Haven't we kind of been here before? God giving miracle babies as deliverers of his people. Miracle babies because they overcome something exactly like barrenness. Isn't that a key motif of the Old Testament? Isn't that how he often continued the covenant line? Remember the fathers we already mentioned, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob? Each one of them had a wife who was childless, who, like Elizabeth, is described as barren. Each one was granted a miracle baby. And there are more miracle baby deliverers. There's Samuel born to Hannah. There's Samson born to Manoah and his wife to rise up and strike back against the Philistines. But it's amazing in particular how similar this account is to Abraham and Sarah. There are deep covenantal connections and echoes in this chapter. Starting back in Genesis 12, the Lord repeatedly promised a child to Abraham by Sarah, even children, even children to outnumber the stars, a multitude, the blessing of all nations through him. It was a massive promise wrapped up, though, in the beginning of a child who had not yet been born. Well, here in Luke 1, an angel is promising a child who will play another dramatic role, even a dramatic role in that promise coming true that had been made to Abraham. Sarah was beyond the years of childbearing. It wasn't just that they were trying and struggling. It was like it was too late. And so too, Elizabeth is described that way. In Genesis 18, we have that episode where the three angelic visitors appear. Abraham bows to the ground in reverent fear. Well, in Luke 1, Zechariah enters the temple. He's all by himself to burn incense. And he also has an angelic visitor. He sees an angel. Verse 12 tells us he was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. Dale Ralph Davis writes, it likely scared the daylights out of him. In Genesis 18, when one of the angelic visitors said to Abraham, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, will have a son, Sarah hears it and laughs to herself. She says, after I am worn out and my Lord is old, will I now have this pleasure? Well, in Luke 1.18, Zechariah, channeling somewhat the spirit of Sarah, says to the angel, how shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife, she's advanced in years. Back in Genesis 18, the angel, whom the text reveals actually to be a theophany of God himself, he calls Sarah out. That gets your attention. The Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh? And say, shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. The Lord said, no, but you did laugh. Here in Luke 1, our angel, perhaps running a little understandably low on angelic patience, gives quite a response in verses 19 through 20. Another one to kind of grab you, including at this point telling us his name. The angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. And I was sent to speak to you. You get it? Like, I stand in the presence of God. I'm standing in your presence now. Listen to me. And I was sent to bring you good news. Behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." Incredibly similar to what was said to Abraham about Sarah. By the time I return, you will have this child. Now, Sarah got a stern rebuke. Zechariah got over nine months of muteness. But what do we take from this little comparative study? We take this, it's not an accident. It's not an accident that God is unfolding another key moment of redemptive history, even the dawn of another covenant, a better covenant in such a similar way. Abraham's covenant was wrapped up in a miracle birth. a son from his line that would be given to carry it forward, even by barren Sarah. Now the forerunner of the true and better child, the child that would even be the fulfillment, the real answer to Abraham's covenant is about to be born. Again, it's this dawn of the new covenant. And Zechariah, probably with a lot of time to think about it during his prolonged silence, when he next opens his mouth, he'll draw this direct connection to us because down in Luke 1, 72 to 73, Zechariah's song, when he recovers the gift of speech, he will sing that Messiah comes, verse 72, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father, Abraham. There it is. And over his own child, John, Messiah's forerunner, he sings in verse 76, and you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways. So again, John the Baptist is going to be another one of these essentially Old Testament men walking the early pages of our New Testament. He is the last of the prophets sent to proclaim the Christ, even having the privilege of ushering the Christ onto the main stage of redemptive history as he must increase and John must decrease. So I said that's one way this is a familiar familial struggle, that it's a motif of the Old Testament. Second, it's familiar because this text describes a struggle common to many. And by that, I'm no longer talking just about the pages of scripture. I'm talking about our own currently lived out lives. I don't want to just read through this passage and make historical redemptive connections without acknowledging that this talks about a real struggle for real people, even really a part of this church. The struggle of not having a child that you so deeply desire to have is not an uncommon one, but it is uncommonly hard. Maybe that's something that you have prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed about and you're still in that situation. Look with me at verse 13. In verse 13, Gabriel says, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Here's the thing. Understand that that was not true because Zechariah was so blameless that he deserved to have his prayer heard or deserved to have it answered in the way he wanted. The prayer was heard because God graciously hears the prayers of all his children. He had a particular plan the Lord did for Zechariah and Elizabeth's child. But child of God, God always hears the prayers of his children, including the childless. as they pour out their prayers to him. Couples in that situation, please don't think your prayers are just falling to earth. Maybe you think of them like the tears you've maybe shed that just fall down and you think they just fall to earth and go nowhere as you wait and you wonder. No, child of God, your prayers go up. Your prayers go up and are always heard by your heavenly father. Even your tears, Psalm 56 says he catches them all in his bottle. There is not a tear you've ever shed over this issue or any other struggle of this life that your heavenly father did not see, did not catch, will not one day wipe away. And he is closer than you can imagine. It would be wrong to take a text like this or any of the miracle birth texts after barrenness in scripture and say either God always does that, that's simply not true. His ways are mysterious. We don't know why he gives or withholds blessings in certain situations. It's simply not true that he always does that. But it's also not true to say that if he doesn't, that's some sort of judgment or rejection. There are no grounds to say that either. But we can go somewhere with it. And that place is not only the hope and joy of knowing the Lord is with me in that struggle, but the hope and joy that will ultimately answer all the struggles in this sin-cursed world, whenever, whatever they may be. And that brings us to our last point, which is an answer anticipating more. An answer anticipating more. Verses 24 to 25. After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived. And for five months she kept herself hidden saying, Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among the people. Again, it's important to remember a few things here. Zechariah and Elizabeth's blamelessness, which we've already talked about in the context of covenantal faithfulness, that had not triggered the specific blessing of a child. That's not how the Lord works. That is nothing but a form of the prosperity gospel where our good works earn us earthly blessings or merit rather than the true gospel where we are saved from our failed good works unto eternity by grace only through the merits of Christ. Don't believe forms of the prosperity gospel. and see this clearly, rather than describing some sort of spiritual superhero, Zechariah, again, actually comes off pretty poorly by the time you read the whole section. Can I just say this guy has a really bad day? The lot falls to him as the priest to offer incense. This is like the high point in his priestly career. Maybe the highest. He goes in. The text says that there's all these people gathered around as he goes in. He gets scared out of his wits by this angel. He says something really dumb to the angel. He gets an unbelievable, like, angelic smackdown. I am Gabriel, who dwells in the presence of God. Who are you? You don't believe me? He struck mute for it. The people are still outside. Verse 21 actually tells us they know something's going on. They're starting to murmur. They're waiting for Zechariah. They're wondering. There's a delay in the temple. He finally comes out and he's mute. Dale Ralph Davis, when you get down here to What is it? Verse 22. When he came out, he was unable to speak to them. He kept making signs to them. Del Ralph Davis calls it some kind of a embarrassing game of charades. And he comes out and he's got to explain this to the people. I think I'm pretty good at charades. I like charades. If I pulled a card that said, an angel appeared to me, my very old barren wife will have a baby. I've been struck mute for not believing this. I don't even know where I'd start in trying to act that one out. It says he fulfills his period of service. Eventually, he heads home. He's got to now somehow communicate all this to Elizabeth. By the time we get later in the chapter, he's figured out just writing things on a tablet. Not sure where that was at this point. But, you know, you can imagine even him getting back. I know I'm really dwelling on this, but I thought a lot about it this week. What was it like coming home to Elizabeth? Totally mute. How did it go? That must have been a very interesting evening. But here's the thing. Zechariah's very bad day. His lack of faithfulness. It does not thwart the faithfulness of God. After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived. And for five months, she kept herself hidden, saying, thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among the people. And that was beautifully true for her. But I called this an answer anticipating more. Spent a lot of time talking about miracle births. How much greater, though, is the miracle birth about to come? The miracle birth that's not just overcoming an older woman's barrenness under the blessing of the people, but actually overcoming a baby born of a virgin. That's the real miracle birth. Elizabeth's child here takes away her reproach among the people, and what a kindness that was. Maybe she was embarrassed as she lived among them. Maybe there even was some scorn, some taunting. Maybe it was just imagined, but She moved in her life among these women, cradling babies with her arms empty. The Lord has taken away my reproach. But so much better, what would Mary's son take away? What reproach would he remove? The shame of all his people, all our guilt, he would comfort all our fears. He would fill us up, even those who suffered through those empty arms. He came to fill us up with every heavenly blessing, no matter what earthly struggles we endured. God's people often do live with struggles and sorrows in this life. opposition, injustice, loss, sickness, joblessness, childlessness, frustration of not knowing what to do, confusion over what's really going on. The answer of this text is bigger than any situational answer. The answer anticipates this child. It'll be such a greater joy and gladness than Zechariah and Elizabeth had. It anticipates the greater child who would grow to be the only Savior, Jesus Christ, come to take away the sins of the world. So no matter how low Earth's struggles may take you, child of God, you cannot conceive the heights, the heights of blessing. of joy and gladness to come in Christ. What did Malachi prophesy? The son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves loosed from the stall. In just a few chapters of Luke, we're gonna read Jesus going to the synagogue, as I mentioned as we started. Unrolling the Isaiah scroll, reading, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's Savior. Jesus closed the scroll and said, today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Kings Cross Church, sons and daughters of the living God, that scripture is fulfilled. Christ has come and proclaimed the year of the Lord's favor. The gospel means joy and gladness eternally for all his children, no matter what they may endure on earth. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this gospel of Luke. We pray in this first message as we are even just oriented to the larger movements of redemptive history as we think about the book, but as we also zoom in on this particular episode with this particular couple, I pray that you would remind us what kind of God you are to all those who fear you, to all couples struggling similar things, to households going through crisis, to churches in hard times, to your people wherever they may be. You are the God who promises us a joy through Christ compared to the calf leaping for joy. Some may feel that anything like that just feels so far away, it almost feels like a joke. But Lord, I pray that today you would press your own presence deeply into the hearts of your children, and they would know these things are not far away. They are already here in Christ. Yes, we wait for the full experience in the world to come. But the year of the Lord's favor has been proclaimed. Jesus Christ has come live for us died for us. He is risen. He will return. We will have joy in him and with him forever and ever world without end. We pray these things in his name. Amen.